Palmer, Geoffrey

Peter Pan (Widescreen Edition)

Fine casting, genuinely special effects, and a keen combination of whimsy and danger make this Peter Pan the one to beat among all previous adaptations of J.M. Barrie's classic children's fantasy. The technical advances of CGI make the magic of Barrie's tale come alive, and the spectacular effects combined with luminous live action create an action-packed Neverland that's both believable and breathtakingly artificial, like a Maxfield Parrish landscape springing vividly to life before your eyes. More important, however, is the fact that director P.J. Hogan (whose splendid films include Muriel's Wedding and My Best Friend's Wedding) has taken care to develop a substantial, pre-adolescent affection between the boyish sprite Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and resourceful London girl Wendy, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood in a marvelous screen debut. This emotional bond--and the mixed blessing of Peter's eternal childhood--is what gives Hogan's Peter Pan its rich emotional subtext, added to an already bountiful adventure that's equal parts delightful and menacing, especially when the villainous pirate Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs, doubling as Wendy's father) threatens to spoil the fun. With a mischievously dazzling Tinker Bell (played by Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) and no expense spared on its lavish Australian production, this Peter Pan gets it entirely right by presenting childhood as fun and frightening, in all its wondrous joys and sorrows. --Jeff Shannon

The magic, the excitement, the wonder of the true Peter Pan comes to life for the first time in this spellbinding fantasy that critics proclaim "a fun and fantastic tale!" (Daily Herald). Brimming with spectacular special effects and non-stop action, this all-new adventure is sure to be a family favorite for years to come! "One of the finest films of the year!" (Daily Gazette)

A Fish Called Wanda

Kevin Kline took home an Oscar for his performance as a self-absorbed lothario who prepares for lovemaking by drinking in his own "manly" musk, but it would be hard to single him out as the best thing about the film. The fact is, the entire cast of this hilarious comedy is perfect: John Cleese as the conservative barrister defending a member of sexy Jamie Lee Curtis's gang, Ms. Curtis as the conniving crook out to grab the haul for herself, and Michael Palin as the stuttering, animal-loving hit man whose attempts to murder a little old lady only decrease the size of her poodle pack. Cleese cowrote the zingy script with British comedy veteran Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob), whose smooth direction balances Monty Python farce, hysterically tasteless gags, and an unexpectedly romantic subplot with style and confidence. --Sean Axmaker

Tour-de-force performances from an unparalleled comic cast highlight this much-loved hit that Roger Ebert calls "the funniest movie I have seen in a long time!" Monty Pythoners John Cleese and Michael Palin (Search For The Holy Grail, The Meaning Of Life) join OscarÂ(r) winner* Kevin Kline (In & Out) and Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies) in an entertainment so impeccably timed and executed that Time Magazine hailed it as: "Geniu[a film that] Redefines a great comic tradition!" Four conniving jewel thieves...three Yorkshire terriers...two heaving bosoms and one proper British barrister. It all adds up to "a non-stop barrage of...outrageous plot twists and over-the top performances" (L.A. Weekly) when a girl called Wanda (Curtis) tries to deceive her Nietzche-quoting boyfriend (Kline), an animal-loving hitman (Palin) and an embarrassment-prone counselor (Cleese) out of a fortune in jewels in this hilariously funny farce! *1988: Best Supporting Actor, A Fish Called Wanda

Mrs. Brown

A romantic drama in the Masterpiece Theater vein, this John Madden film looks at the relationship between Queen Victoria and John Brown, a commoner who, though a servant, becomes her closest friend and confidant. As such, he proves the catalyst to bring her back into public life and out of her private mourning for the late Prince Albert. But the closeness of their friendship sets tongues wagging about the impropriety of what appears to be an affair between queen and commoner (an issue the film never directly addresses). The film's charm lies in the flinty give-and-take between the wonderfully starchy Judi Dench as Victoria and the robust Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, here playing it straight as a strong-willed Scotsman who comes to enjoy the power he wields by virtue of having the queen's ear. Antony Sher is also striking as Prime Minister Disraeli, in a performance that all but shimmers with unspoken malice. --Marshall Fine

Acclaimed as one of the year's must-see films, MRS. BROWN is a riveting, true-life story of forbidden love and passion! Queen Victoria (Judi Dench -- TOMORROW NEVER DIES, GOLDENEYE) was the world's most powerful woman. Rugged Scotsman John Brown (Billy Connolly -- INDECENT PROPOSAL) was a lowly servant who looked after her horses. Yet when circumstances brought them together ... the result was a passionate friendship that scandalized a nation! With commanding performances from stars Dench and Connolly -- you're sure to find this motion picture outstanding and entertaining!

Alice Through the Looking Glass

A delicious combination of live-action, animation, and special effects tells the fantastical adventures of Alice as she returns to Wonderland, in this imaginative adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic story of the same name. Kate Beckinsale plays Alice, a young girl who steps through a magical mirror and is transported from the real world into an enchanted one of talking insects, nonsensical questions, and reversals of logic. Her journey is marked by mostly incomprehensible encounters with quirky characters such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Red Queen and White Queen, and Humpty Dumpty. Beckinsale's Alice is a believable blend of curiosity, poise, and impertinence whose presence in nearly every scene carries the film. Other strong performances include Desmond Barritt, as Humpty, who recites a chilling rendition of "Beware the Jabberwocky," and Ian Holm (The Lord of the Rings), as White Knight, with a soliloquy as colorful as his hair. If, as Carroll states at the end of his tale, "all life is but a dream," this wacky version is one to remember. (Ages 10 and older) --Lynn Gibson

The Madness of King George

Nicholas Hytner had an international stage phenomenon with Alan Bennett's play The Madness of King George, starring Nigel Hawthorne as King George III, the British monarch who lost the American colonies. But in this film adaptation, Hytner unfortunately yields to the old temptation to "open up" the piece with lots of arbitrary exteriors, rushed set pieces, choppy editing, and so on, robbing Hawthorne's acclaimed stage performance of coherency and power on the big screen. Viewers are forced to fill in emotional gaps for themselves (and try to imagine what Bennett's work must have looked and felt like originally), and the whole enterprise has a pseudo-cinematic, self-congratulatory air. --Tom Keogh

Written by Alan Bennett from his stage play and featuring a towering performance by Nigel Hawthorne, and a stunning screen directorial debut (Variety) by Tony Award winner* Nicholas Hytner, this Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning** masterpiece of royal intrigue ispotent, engrossing and thrilling (Los Angeles Times). Just five years after losing the 'rebellious colonies, it appears that England's King George III (Hawthorne) is now losing his mind! Suddenly, the stately monarch is hallucinating, shouting obscenities, behaving lewdly towards the Queen's (Helen Mirren) comelylady-in-waiting and generally becoming a candidate for the lunatic asylum. The palace doctors are baffled, but the Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett), tired of playing the waiting game, conspires to take advantage of the situation. Will the King's supporters be able to restore their monarch's wits before he's stripped of his throne? *1994: Director (Musical), Carousel **1994: Art Direction

Peter Pan (Full Screen Edition)

Fine casting, genuinely special effects, and a keen combination of whimsy and danger make this Peter Pan the one to beat among all previous adaptations of J.M. Barrie's classic children's fantasy. The technical advances of CGI make the magic of Barrie's tale come alive, and the spectacular effects combined with luminous live action create an action-packed Neverland that's both believable and breathtakingly artificial, like a Maxfield Parrish landscape springing vividly to life before your eyes. More important, however, is the fact that director P.J. Hogan (whose splendid films include Muriel's Wedding and My Best Friend's Wedding) has taken care to develop a substantial, pre-adolescent affection between the boyish sprite Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and resourceful London girl Wendy, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood in a marvelous screen debut. This emotional bond--and the mixed blessing of Peter's eternal childhood--is what gives Hogan's Peter Pan its rich emotional subtext, added to an already bountiful adventure that's equal parts delightful and menacing, especially when the villainous pirate Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs, doubling as Wendy's father) threatens to spoil the fun. With a mischievously dazzling Tinker Bell (played by Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) and no expense spared on its lavish Australian production, this Peter Pan gets it entirely right by presenting childhood as fun and frightening, in all its wondrous joys and sorrows. --Jeff Shannon

The magic, the excitement, the wonder of the true Peter Pan comes to life for the first time in this spellbinding fantasy that critics proclaim "a fun and fantastic tale!" (Daily Herald). Brimming with spectacular special effects and non-stop action, this all-new adventure is sure to be a family favorite for years to come! "One of the finest films of the year!" (Daily Gazette)

Tomorrow Never Dies

Pierce Brosnan leaps into action as Agent 007 in this spectacular thrill ride of death-defying stunts and amazing high-tech gadgets. In the most electrifying Bond film yet, the unstoppable action hero must prevent a tremendous disaster ripped from tomorrowÃ"â??s headlines. Someone is pitting the worldÃ"â??s superpowers against each other Ã"â?" and only James Bond can stop it. When a British warship is mysteriously destroyed in Chinese waters, the world teeters on the brink of WWIII Ã"â?" until 007 zeros in on the true criminal mastermind. BondÃ"â??s do-or-die mission takes him to Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce), a powerful industrialist who manipulates world events as easily as he changes headlines from his global media empire. After soliciting help from CarverÃ"â??s sexy wife, Paris (Teri Hatcher), Bond joins forces with a stunning yet lethal Chinese agent, Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh), in a series of explosive chases, brutal confrontations and breathtaking escapes as they race to stop the presses on CarverÃ"â??s next planned news story: global pandemonium! With powerhouse action sequences, including a wild motorcycle pursuit through (and over!) Saigon, Tomorrow Never Dies is a thrilling action-adventure Ã"â??that roars from start to finish with the throttle wide open (Gene Shalit, NBC-TV)!

The Anthony Trollope Collection (The Barchester Chronicles / He Knew He Was Right / The Way We Live Now)

The Anthony Trollope Collection contains three masterpieces and over 15 hours of timeless film from one of the greatest nineteenth-century novelist. Visit the fascinating world of Victorian England through the eyes of Anthony Trollope, as the prolific and respected novelist illustrates the penetrating conflicts of the day.

Tomorrow Never Dies (Special Edition)

Pierce Brosnan returns for his second stint as James Bond (after GoldenEye), and he's doing it in high style with an invigorating cast of costars. It's only appropriate that a Bond film from 1997 would find Agent 007 pitted against a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) who's going to start a global war (beginning with stolen nuclear missiles aimed at China) to create attention-grabbing headlines for his latest multimedia news channel. It's the information age run amok, and Bond must team up with a lovely and lethal agent from the Chinese External Security Force (played by Honk Kong action star Michelle Yeoh) to foil the madman's plot of global domination. Luckily for Bond, the villain's wife (Teri Hatcher) is one of his former lovers, and at the behest of his superior M (Judi Dench), 007 finds ample opportunity to exploit the connection. Although it bears some nagging similarities to many formulaic action films from the '90s, Tomorrow Never Dies (with a title song performed by Sheryl Crow) boasts enough grand-scale action and sufficiently intelligent plotting to suggest the Bond series has plenty of potential to survive into the next millennium. Armed with the usual array of gadgets (including a remote-controlled BMW), Brosnan settles into his role with acceptable flair, and the dynamic Yeoh provides a perfect balance to the sexism that once threatened to turn Bond into a politically incorrect anachronism. He's still Bond, to be sure, but he's saving the world with a bit more sophisticated finesse. In addition to theatrical trailers, this special edition DVD comes with a feature-length audio commentary by director Roger Spottiswoode, more commentary by stunt director Vic Armstrong and producer Michael G. Wilson, a storyboard overlay that compares action-sequence concepts with final footage, a 45-minute "Secrets of 007" featurette covering the evolution of the Bond character, and an isolated music-only track with an interview of composer David Arnold. Bond would be proud.--Jeff Shannon

The Young Visiters

This peculiar and delightful BBC movie springs from an equally peculiar and delightful novel written in 1890 by a 9-year-old girl and published with her spelling left uncorrected--hence the title, The Young Visiters. Mr. Alfred Salteena (Jim Broadbent, Topsy-Turvy) falls in love with an ambitious young beauty named Ethel (Lyndsey Marshal, The Hours), who only agrees to visit the clumsy and unctuous Alfred if he introduces her to nobility. Alfred cajoles an invitation from Lord Bernard Clark (Hugh Laurie, Stuart Little), whose own interest in Ethel leads him to send Alfred off for lessons in manners, launching Alfred on his own road to high status. The story's mixture of offhand naivete and precocious insights into class results in something daft, funny, and thoroughly charming. Also featuring a delicious turn by Bill Nighy (Love Actually) as the earl who agrees to "rub up" Alfred. --Bret Fetzer

Academy Award-winner Jim Broadbent stars as Alfred Salteena, 'an elderly man of 42,' who falls in love with young Ethel Monticue at first sight. To impress her, he treats Ethel to a visit at the sumptuous country house of Lord Bernard Clark, the only lord Alf actually knows. Their ensuing adventures in London's colorful high society reveal the young author's alarmingly keen insights into class, the foolishness of adults and the power that young girls have over men.

DVD Features:
Biographies:Cast/Author bio screens
Featurette:Behind-the-scenes featurette